This week, all-star gymnast Simone Biles announced her withdrawal from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to prioritize her mental health, and her status for next week's competitions is up in the air. The four-time Rio gold medalist is the latest big-name athlete to speak up about the drain that competing at the highest level takes on mental health and how she was taking steps to alleviate it. Fellow Olympian Naomi Osaka opted out of the French Open and Wimbledon citing mental health reasons and saw support from brands like sponsor Sweetgreen and Calm.
Along with numerous celebrities supporting Biles and Osaka, brands like Calm, Cartoon Network and Netflix are showing their support for the Olympians, whether they have sponsorship ties to the Olympics and the world of gymnastics and tennis or not, as well as Biles’ sponsors Athleta and Visa. It's unclear whether some of these brands that are not official Olympic sponsors could be violating the Olympics' Rule 40 which prohibits the use of implying a connection with the Olympics or participating athletes. It's likely even more brands would speak out with support if the rule didn't exist.
Last night, Biles tweeted: “The outpouring love and support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.”
Here are the brands showing their support on social: